College

Florida mascot perform during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against the Missouri in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference men's tournament, Friday, March 14, 2014, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

You've probably heard of the $1 billion NCAA bracket challenge where you can win that amount of money if you correctly pick every winner in the tournament that begins this week.

Aside from the fact that such a feat is just about impossible, can you imagine watching that final game between, say, Duke and Florida needing the Gators to win to earn $1 billion?

When you have a chance to win an office pool, or one of those Super Bowl square grids, the pressure is just about intolerable. Factor that up a notch or two to $1 billion and, well, that would probably be a quiet room.

Speaking of the NCAA tourney:

If had to choose a winner right now, without knowing the brackets and possible matchups, I would take Florida and love my chances.

The Gators are good-sized, athletic and, most importantly, experienced. When looking for teams to make good tournament runs, there are a few factors you should keep in mind:

1. Experience. I like teams that have some seniors and some tourney-grizzled players. (Florida, Louisville).

2. Dynamic back courts. Since guards have the ball most of the time, and since the dominant big man is a thing of the past, spectacular backcourts are always a plus. (Michigan, Louisville, maybe even UConn).

3. Transcendent players. We have seen how one player at that right spot and the right moment can carry a team, like Kemba Walker did. (Duke with Jabari Parker?)

4. Weak bracket. Give me a lower seed in a section of the brackets with a weaker top seed and I'll take my chances. (Just like World Cup soccer teams wanted to get into the group with Switzerland as the top seed, tell me some teams aren't drooling about being matched up in a region with Wichita State or Villanova).

As for the Huskies (win or lose Saturday night), how would they fare based on the above criteria?

1. Their best player is a senior.

2. Their best two players are guards.

3. They have a player who can take over a game.

4. We will see where they fall in the bracket. (Wichita State, San Diego State good; Florida or Arizona bad.) Sounds pretty good to me.

For what it's worth (probably a half-full can of Sprite and a dried-up felt-tip pen), my choice for the best ever at Nonnewaug/Woodbury in the Hoop Zone Hall of Fame project would have gone to Matt Martland. But it is certainly a virtual coin toss between Matt and Steve McAllister.

A final NCAA thought: I don't like Doug Gottlieb on CBS, but love listening to Steve Kerr and Marv Albert calling college games.

Speaking of high school basketball, what a week we have coming up:

Monday: Crosby vs. Ledyard (winner likely to get powerful Bridgeport Central) and Lewis Mills vs. St. Paul (winner will have shot at a state final berth) in boys quarterfinal games. And on the girls side is an absolutely epic encounter at Kennedy High with Thomaston facing Sacred Heart and a trip to the Mohegan Sun for the winner.

Wow.

Tuesday: The St. Paul girls take their shot in the girls semifinals against Bolton, with the winner facing Sacred Heart or Thomaston at the Sun. And then there's the Sacred Heart boys with a tricky date against Bloomfield in the Class S semifinals.

State championship games are Saturday and Sunday. If you like high school basketball or are simply a fan of sporting drama, that's about as good a week as you can draw up.

A final Hoop Zone Hall of Fame thought: Guess my 19 points in two years at Nonnewaug wasn't enough to impress the committee.

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.